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Laura Medlin says the “campaign of harassment”
started after she resigned from a union position and that it was carried out over
various social media outlets, including Facebook. She complained to human resources
about the harassment, but the company neglected to enforce its social media use policy
for employees, despite her repeated requests, and apparently never disciplined the
workers who harassed her, Medlin alleges.

Discrimination against employees via social media, including sexual and other harassment,
is an issue that has caught the attention of federal enforcement authorities, and
it exposes employers to potential monetary and other legal liability. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces workplace discrimination
laws, held a
meeting on the issue in March 2014.

An employee rights attorney said during the meeting that personal social media accounts
can sometimes play a part in workplace harassment.

“The issue is further complicated as more employers use a ‘Bring Your Own Device’
policy, in which they require or expect employees to use personal laptops, smartphones,
or other technology while on the job,” Lynne Bernabei of Bernabei &
Wachtel PLLC in Washington told the EEOC.

Policy Not Enforced, Plaintiff Charges

According to the complaint, American’s social media policy warned employees to be
aware of their off-duty conduct and to show respect for co-workers when using social
media, including refraining from making disparaging comments. The policy further warned
that employees should avoid publicly posting anything that could potentially embarrass
the employee or the airline.

Despite the policy, a group of male flight attendants in Philadelphia took to Facebook
and other outlets to harass Medlin by calling her names and making disparaging comments
about her, the complaint alleges. Male co-workers were not similarly harassed via
social media, according to the complaint.

Medlin says she sent an e-mail to human resources in May 2015 complaining about the
harassment, but never received a response. Further contact with HR in September 2015
resulted in her leaving a voicemail that wasn’t returned for two weeks. Even then,
the HR specialist simply apologized for not getting back to her sooner and said he
would be in touch “shortly,” the complaint asserts.

She reached out to the HR specialist two more times, but he did little more than apologize
for the delay, Medlin alleges. When she still hadn’t heard anything from the company
by July 2016, Medlin filed a charge with the EEOC.

Not only were her harassers apparently not disciplined, they also apparently were
subsequently promoted, Medlin charges.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

“We just received the complaint and are looking into the allegations,” Matt Miller,
an American Airlines spokesman, told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 2.Faye Riva Cohen in Philadelphia represents Medlin. No attorney has filed an appearance
yet for American Airlines.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Dorrian in Washington at
pdorrian@bna.com

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